Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Markets Have Worst Trading Day Since 1987 As Coronavirus Fears Weigh Heavy On Global Economy
The Washington Post: Markets Plunged, Despite The Fed Announcing Flooding The Short-Term Lending Markets With $1.5 Trillion
The stock market crashed to its worst day since 1987, shrugging off dramatic intervention by two central banks and a prime-time address by President Trump as Americans realized the coronavirus will impose new limits on their daily lives. The Dow Jones industrial average posted its largest one-day point loss in history, dropping almost 2,353 points to close at 21,200.62. In percentage terms, the 10 percent loss marked the Dow’s worst day since the infamous October day known as “Black Monday.” (Lynch, Heath, Telford and Long, 3/13)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Stock Futures Jump After Dow’s Worst Day Since 1987
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose as much as 4.5% in early morning trading Friday. U.S. stocks plunged Thursday, with the Dow falling 10% as the rapidly spreading coronavirus drove fears of a global slowdown despite action from the Federal Reserve. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 rose 2.3% at the open Friday. Italy’s financial regulator suspended short selling of 85 Italian companies until the end of the trading day. The U.K.’s regulator also banned the trading activity on the same companies dual-listed on British exchanges. (Hirtenstein and Chiu, 3/13)
The Hill: Fed To Spend $1.5T To Pump Liquidity Into Financial Markets Amid Coronavirus Panic
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced Thursday that it will spend $1.5 trillion to purchase financial assets in a titanic bid to pump cash into the bond market amid panic on Wall Street. The New York Fed said in a Thursday statement it will drastically increase the scale of its repurchase (repo) agreements, during which it buys Treasury bonds and other securities from banks and traders with an agreement to sell the product back with interest the following day or soon after. It will offer $500 billion in repo operations on Thursday followed by $1 trillion in repo agreements Friday “to address highly unusual disruptions in Treasury financing markets associated with the coronavirus outbreak.” (Lane, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Behind The Scenes Of U.S. Coronavirus Economic Policy-Making
As the coronavirus affects almost every aspect of business, a collection of Trump administration officials—at times at odds with one another—have been seeking to coordinate government action to soften the anticipated blow to the economy. So far, that coordination has been more ad hoc than organized or torn from the classic crisis playbook, which has administration policy makers acting in concert with the Federal Reserve and seeking buy-in from congressional leaders from both parties before announcing a policy response. (Davidson, Restuccia and Timiraos, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Economists See Rising Risks Of Recession World-Wide
The U.S. and world economies look increasingly likely to slip into recession as expanding swaths of commerce shut down and the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst day since 1987 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The global financial rout deepened on Thursday despite new measures by major central banks to ease market strains and bolster the economy—and as the Trump administration and Congress neared agreement on legislation to provide federal financial assistance to many affected businesses and workers. (Mitchell and Zumbrun, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal: As Recession Looms, Priority Is Lessening Severity, Easing Financial Stress
In the last week the coronavirus shock has sharply raised the probability that the U.S., and the world at large, will suffer a recession. The main challenge for the world now is limiting its severity and preventing a health crisis from becoming a financial crisis. Hard data has yet to show a downturn, but it is out of date. Meanwhile, airlines, theaters and others report widespread cancellations. Just this week equity prices have tumbled, oil prices have plunged, and there are signs of growing stress in financial markets. (Ip, 3/12)
Reuters: U.S. Excludes Some Chinese Medical Products From Tariffs
The U.S. Trade Representative's office said it granted on Thursday exclusions from import tariffs for some medical products imported from China, including face masks, stethoscope covers and blood pressure cuff sleeves. The exclusions were granted as the United States grapples with a coronavirus outbreak that threatens to strain its healthcare system. (3/12)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Horsford Bill Aims To Ease Coronavirus Job Impacts
Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., has introduced legislation aimed at providing additional funding for Nevada and other states should unemployment rise because of the COVID-19 outbreak .In a statement released Thursday, Horsford said his bill, H.R. 6199, would immediately provide Nevada with $5 million to help offset a probable increase in unemployment applications, with another $5 million available should the state suffer significant job losses. (Appleton, 3/12)
